The Abilene reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1887-08-04
TOADS AND FROGS.
Their Importance rs CuratIves Among the
Pessantry of England and Ireland.


In Devonshire the approved treat
ment for scrofula at the present day is
| to dry the hind leg of toad and wear
it round the neck in silken bag, or
else they cut off that part of the living
! reptile which answers to that part af-
fected by scrofula. and, having wrapped
the fragment in parchment, tie it around
the neck of the sufferer. In cases Of
! rheumatism "wise man" of Devon
shire will burn a toad to ashes and tie
the dust in a bit of silk to be worn
round the throat. So recently as 1922
one Of these quacks travelled through
England lin his own gig" Earh pa
tient who consulted him was required
to bring him fee of one dollar and
| seventy-tive cents and a live toad. he
pocketed the shillings and cut the hind
legs off the luckless toads, placing
them in small bags. which he solemnly
| hung around the neck of the sufferer.
who was required to wear this uRfra-
grant appendage till the leg was quite
| decayedi For the same malady the
same remedy was in the last century
recommended by beggar wife to
girl ut Gaddesden who had been a suf-
ferer from her infancy. 1t is stated
that the cure was effected, and the girl
never suffered afterward. But it is
worthy of note that the beggar wife
explained that the efficacy of the charm
lay in the death of the poor mutilated
toad, which, deprived of its legs,
would pine and die, but as it
slowly wasted so would the distemper
pass away. Here, then, us in the offer
ing of the live cock, was involved the
principle of sacrifice-a life for life.
Another girl in the same village was
partly cured of the evil in her eyes
by applying a sun-dried toad to the
back of her neck, whereby blisters were
raised. Poor toads are still made to do
service In divers manners in Cornwall
and Northampton for the cure of nose
bleeding and quinsy, while 'toad pow
der" or even a live toad or spider shut
up in box, is still in some places ac-
counted as useful a charm against con-
tagion as it was in the days of Sir Ken
elm Digby. The medicine known to
our ancestors as PutUiS AIthiopicuS Ga
valuable remedy both for external and
internal use in the treatment of small
pox and dropsy) was neither more nor
less than powdered toad. Frogs are
well-nigh as valuable as toads to the
sick poor, who are rarely lacking in
the primary necessity of faith in the
means adopted. Thus frogs spawn
placed in a stone jar and buried for
three months till it turns to water has
been found wonderfully efficacious in
Donegal when well rubbed into a rheu-
matte limb. How much of the credit
was due to the rubbing is not recorded.
In Aberdeenshire cure recommended
for sore eyes is to lick the eyes of live
frog. The man who has thus been
healed has henceforth the power of
curing all sore eyes by merely licking
them! In like manner it is said in Ire
land that the tongue which has licked
lizard all over will be forever endued
with a marvellous power of healing
whatever sore or pain it touches. An
other Irish remedy is to apply the
tongue of fox to draw a troublesome
thorn from the foot; the tooth of a liv-
ing fox, to be worn as an amulet, is also
deemed valuable as cure for an in
famed leg. The primary difficulty is to
catch the fox and extract his TOOTH
Nineteenth Century.